Think someone could get away with this through PayPal?

[ambull]

I purchased a domain from someone, and paid through paypal. The person (seller) then dropped off the earth, as discussed here: http://www.namepros.com/showthread.php?t=149408&page=1&pp=25

I have since initiated a dispute with paypal, and it caused him to unlock the domain. He now has to prove that he has transfered the domain to me, in order for paypal to "drop the charges". NOW, what if he creates a dummy account with his current registrar, and 'pushes' the domain to that account, and then changes the whois info to reflect my information. If he then claims that he has indeed transfered the domain to me, could he actually get away with this? Is this something I should be concerned with? Think he could get away it through paypal?

 

[Morph]

If he does that contact the registrar, they will take the domain from him for false whois

 

[ambull]

Wow, what a fast response!!!!!!!!!!!!

Ok, so they would take the domain away from him, but they sure as hell wouldn't give it to me right? AND, since this surely would take some time, could he STILL in the mean time "reverse the charges" with paypal and keep his money?

 

[RJ]

That same technique has been used to scam online escrow companies. It's a major flaw in the online escrow process since the escrow company never takes control of the domain to ensure the transfer is done properly.

I'm not sure if it would with a PayPal dispute, but I'd say it has a good chance of fooling them. Getting the registrar involved to verify that the name is in control of the new owner would not be a bad idea. As the admin of NamePros I've been involved with PayPal disputes to confirm that NP$ was legitimately sent.

 

[ambull]

Getting the registrar involved to verify that the name is in control of the new owner would not be a bad idea.

See that's the problem. His registrar, Bulkregister inc, doesn't seemed to be intested in getting involved... You think any registrar would 'hand' his account over to me if he had me and my contact info as the whois owner?

 

[RJ]

See that's the problem. His registrar, Bulkregister inc, doesn't seemed to be intested in getting involved... You think any registrar would 'hand' his account over to me if he had me and my contact info as the whois owner?

Depends on the registrar, and I don't know about BulkReg. If you name is listed in the WHOIS as the domain owner, you should be able to get access to manage that domain. I know many registrars don't operate like that though.

 

[edits]

I'd consider this a major flaw in the system of online domain sales. It's A.) very easy for someone to do and B.) very hard to prove you're not in control of the domain if your info is in the whois.

 

[marisolblue]

That is bad, I would never use paypal or a 3d party payment system to secure funds.

 

[Mystic]

Try Moniker escrow service in future